Debbie Esser

As an Iowa State senior in 1979, Debbie Esser became the first woman to win four consecutive national collegiate track titles in the same event. She was and is the “Hurdler” She set the national 400-meter hurdles record fresh out of high school and won a national AAU championship. She piled up all 13 titles at the girls’ state track meet. Esser set off on a four-year prep parade that ended gloriously on a brilliant mid-May weekend in the sunshine of Drake Stadium. In the Friday preliminaries, Esser and her teammates — sister Denette along with Caren and Lynn Horstmeyer — set a national record in the mile relay. Up next were the 220-yard low hurdles, where Esser won, breaking the record she’d set the year before. Then came the long jump title. Then the 100-yard hurdles. Esser won both the 220 and the 100 for the fourth consecutive year. When Woodbine repeated its mile-relay victory in the finals, Esser had either won or had a hand in four state titles.